Ritz Goes Long

When Dathan Ritzenhein decided to forgo his final year of college running and turn pro in June 2004, he turned to Boulder, Colorado-based Brad Hudson to direct his training. Besides needing to stay in Boulder to finish classes and be near his wife who was still running for CU, Ritzenhein says, "Brad was also a good fit for me because he knew my background, the training I had done under Coach Wetmore at CU. Brad had done similar training when he was younger because Coach Wetmore was his coach when he was in high school. So I felt that he had a good perspective on how to train me."

After a disappointing Olympics where Ritzenhein was recovering from a stress fracture (an injury that has plagued him several times in his career), he has done well in national and international cross country and track the past two years. He’s not yet put together a full championship season, but he has scored some very big wins and showed considerable promise for a young, developing runner. Last summer, following a strong track season, the 23-year-old surprised the running world by announcing that he would run the ING New York City Marathon on November 5.

While the traditional pattern is to wait until you’re over-the-hill on the track to look longer, Hudson and Ritzenhein decided to go long now to test the waters, leading into another Olympic cycle. Given Ritzenhein’s strength, demonstrated in cross country, the marathon is likely to be his best event. "Marathon training is more moderate, more strength-based" says Hudson, referencing Ritzenhein’s history of stress fractures when he does very intense speed work and observing, "if you’re not a sub-3:50 miler these days, you need to look to the asphalt."

Five Phases

Ritzenhein started marathon training last July, 16 weeks out from the race date. Given that he had a full year of 100-mile weeks under his belt and had just completed a track season where he posted 27:35 for the 10,000 and 13:16 for the 5,000, he ramped-up quickly from a one week break to 58 miles, then 81 and 97. That completed his pure "base" period.

Starting with week four, he began what Hudson calls the "strength" or "muscle stress" phase, which continued for four weeks. This period maintained the mileage (96, 110, 111, 111), while introducing workouts aimed to stress and strengthen running muscles: short, explosive hill climbs, longer hill climbs, tempo and hard progression runs.

Ritz's Resumé

Dathan Ritzenhein has been turning heads since his Rockford, MI high school days in the late 1990s. Here are a few career highlights, from his own perspective:

• December 1999, 2000: 1st, Foot Locker Cross Country Championships - Foot Locker was the first time I knew I was on a different level.

• March 2002: 24th, World Cross Country Championships 12K, Dublin, Ireland - Getting third at World Cross Juniors and 24th in the Open 12K a year laterin Dublin showed me that I could compete internationally.That was really it for the first part of my career, then I had a big breakwith injuries.

• October 2006: 3rd BUPA Great North Run Half Marathon, South Shields, England - The Great North Run was probably the most important recent race — it showed I could compete with the best guys on the roads.

During the next three-week phase, in which they traveled to Eugene, OR for sea level specificity, they focused on half-marathon training, both to prepare for the Great North Run on October 1 and as speed support for the marathon. Mileage peaked during this period, with 120- and 122-mile weeks followed by a 78-mile week tapering for the tune-up half. They put in long intervals on the track and longer, intense runs ranging from a 10-miler done at aerobic threshold heart rate (run in 48 minutes), to an 18-miler at near-marathon pace.

At the end of this phase, Ritzenhein ran in the thick of the lead pack as they battled it out in the Great North Run, finishing third among a field that included Hendrick Ramaala, Stefano Baldini, Jaouad Gharib and Dejene Berhanu. His time: 1:01:25 on a hilly course. He had made it known he was ready to mix it up with the big boys.

Back in Boulder, they turned to specific marathon training during the next three-week work phase. Ritzenhein ran solid mileage (101, 115, 115) made up of long runs and a combination of tempo, fartlek and hill workouts to build the specific strength necessary for racing a marathon at sub-5 minute miles.

While the last two weeks were officially the "taper," they looked a lot like the marathon specific phase, with only slight reduction in mileage and several strong workouts. Hudson has strong opinions about this. "I don’t believe in it," he says, of the typical taper that significantly reduces mileage for three weeks while maintaining or increasing intensity. "We don’t reduce volume, but we do a lot of easy running. It is a taper in intensity, rather than a taper in mileage." He adds, "The metabolic system is so important for the marathon. You don’t necessarily have to be a great athlete, you have to have a good engine, to burn fuel efficiently."

Hudson’s taper follows the pattern of the Italians, such as Gianni Demadonna, who reportedly would run up to 120 miles the week before the marathon. A number of Americans have also had success with a higher-mileage taper, including Keith Dowling, Deena Kastor, Benji Durden and Steve Spence, who is said to have run a 20-miler with 2 x 20 minutes at race pace on the Monday before the Sunday he placed third at the 1991 World Championships Marathon.

During the taper, Hudson says they only do one hard workout and one moderate workout per week. These are all aimed at the specific metabolic systems used in the marathon: medium-long runs such as 90 minutes with 45 easy and 45 at close to marathon pace, or 1:35 with the last 50 minutes a progression down to marathon pace, or longer tempo runs such as 2 x 4 miles at close to AT pace. Recovery runs are very easy, up to two minutes per mile slower than marathon pace, which is enough to repair the legs without cutting out miles.

Hudson says, "My feeling used to be, ‘I’ll taper three weeks before the marathon so the specific workouts will feel good.’ But, they should feel good. You shouldn’t be relying on the taper. If you’re not feeling good, you’re not hitting your workouts, you’re not fresh, you’re training too hard — you need to back off anyway." During the core training, he points out, they modulate the intensity drastically: The easy days are very, very easy, while the hard days are "crazy hard."

Ritzenhein did a 20-miler two weeks before the race, with 3 x 15 minute progressions based on heart rates. He ran them a bit fast, as they felt so easy. His last specific workout was seven days before the race. He completed 1:35 with a 50 minute progression from 5:20 down to 5:15 pace. Again, it was cake. He was ready.

Show Time

On race morning, Hudson told me, "If poise is everything, Dathan will win the race." The race went out slowly, and Ritzenhein bided his time in the pack. "It was amazing how easy it was for the first 20 miles," he relayed later. "It was really, really comfortable."

Ritzenhein knew that the real racing usually started on First Avenue, around mile 16. "I told myself I wouldn’t go with whatever move happened; that that was the worst possible thing for me," he said. "When it blew open, I kind of did anyway. The only reason was that it had been so slow I thought it wouldn’t take too much out of me."

He ran miles 16 to 20 at 4:45 pace, hanging with the pack, still confident. At mile 20, however, he began to feel it, and backed off to 5:05 pace. Then the wheels started to come off. "At 35K, mile 22, at the long hill leading up to Central Park, I took my last bottle, then everything changed," Ritzenhein recalled. "I slowed to 5:30-5:40, and held that pace, but it was incredibly difficult. At 25 miles it fell apart. It was everything I could do to run 6:30 pace. There is nothing you could do to prepare yourself for running out of fuel like that."

He finished in 2:14:01, good for 11th place. Not bad for a debut, but quite a bit off from the expectations engendered by the Great North Run. Still, an excellent learning experience.

"I don’t think I can learn more from any other marathon than the one in November," Ritzenhein says now. "It changed my thinking about training, about racing. I gained a lot of respect for the guys who can race it well. Ironically, a few weeks after the race, I came across a quote from Mark Nenow which applies perfectly: ‘I used to have no respect for a 2:14 marathoner. Now I am one’."

Post-Mortem

With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, both Hudson and Ritzenhein have things they would change about the race and the training.

Ritzenhein believes he should have stayed with Baldini, who ran a 5-minute pace through the finish. "I think I could have held on under 2:12 if I hadn’t gone tearing up First Avenue," he says.

Not surprisingly, both of them focused on better fuel strategies for the next time. Ritzenhein says he’ll carry or take some gels on the course. In New York, he recalls, they were handing them out at mile 18, but he didn’t take one, as at the time he thought, "There is no way I’m going to hit the wall." Ritzenhein also might try a full carbo-loading schedule, with a depletion phase, as Jelena Prokopcuka is reported to use. Hudson thinks Ritzenhein might benefit from the help of a dietitian to maintain the huge caloric input needed when running 120-mile weeks.

In terms of modifications to the training, both felt that they played it conservatively this time. "Overall, it was too easy; I didn’t train him hard enough," Hudson says. "I never felt worn out. It was always kind of moderate," says Ritzenhein.

While that is an appropriate strategy for a debut, next time they’ll probably run more miles, up to 130–140 miles per week, and at least one long run of 26–27 miles. Hudson also feels they should do more fuel-specific training, such as long runs at marathon pace. This year they did one, mid-program. Next time they would retain that one, and add another 14 days out from the marathon: 18 miles "at fuel" (progression from 5:28 down to 5:00 pace). He also would add a workout nine days out, consisting of 30 minutes easy plus 10 miles at close to race pace, to send the final signal to the fuel system.

If more intense, their training next time will likely be shorter. Both felt that Ritzenhein lost some of his edge in the last few weeks. Ritzenhein says, "Two weeks after the Great North Run I felt as ready as I was going to be. I didn’t gain a lot after that. Next time, we’ll make it a shorter training block, maybe 12 or 10 weeks." Hudson agrees,"He lost his edge the last five weeks. We might hold his fitness back a little early, then ramp up everything."

Finally, they plan to go down to sea level earlier, three to six weeks in advance, and stay there. Hudson feels that the final weeks at altitude sapped some of the fitness Ritzenhein had at the Great North Run, and it is easier to do the fuel-specific training at sea-level. "Altitude is overrated," Hudson says. "It brings you change quicker, but more people go wrong than go right at altitude. You need to be at sea level to get the specific work for a sea level race." That’s good news for those of us that don’t have the option of moving to altitude to train. Now if only we could borrow some of Ritzenhein’s aerobic capacity.

Do Try this at Home

Some aspects of a training program followed by a runner like Dathan Ritzenhein should carry the warning, "Professional runner on an elite course: Don’t try this at home." Many things, however, can be adopted and adapted to enhance your next marathon training program.

Go for the Muscle

Hudson recommends introducing hills into your training as soon as you know you’re strong enough to handle them. Use short, fast hills that build explosive power every week from the beginning to the end of the program, and longer, tempo-run climbs up to 30–45 minutes in the strength phase of training.

Spice up Your Long Runs

In Hudson’s marathon training, the answer to the perennial question of whether you should run your long runs slow or fast is, "Yes, and . . . " Every long run in the 16 weeks was different, all of them accomplishing more than getting in the miles. Some examples are:

Hudson believes many marathoners are exhausted from an extended training program by race date. "You should be building every week, absorbing all the the training like a sponge," he says. When that feeling ends, when you begin maintaining, it is time to race or risk losing your edge. "You can reach a saturation point in marathon training," Hudson says.

Don’t Go Drastic on the Taper

"For the most part, most people taper too long for the marathon" says Hudson. "You shouldn’t be bashing yourself, but you should never do anything too drastic, too out of the ordinary. People throw off how they burn fuel."

Hudson suggests reducing the number of hard workouts per week, and running many of your miles very slowly — but keep putting them in, and do some workouts specifically aimed at the fuel systems you’ll use in the marathon. "People do stuff that is so weird to the body," Hudson says. "They take three days off, then they start doing speed work they haven’t done, or they have done a long run every week their whole life and they take it out — the metabolic system doesn’t know what is going on."

If you are feeling beat up from the training, Hudson recommends taking four easy days before the start of the taper, to make sure you start fresh, rather than reducing your mileage drastically during the taper and taking the risk of confusing your metabolic system right before the race.